Androgynous refers to the act of simultaneously having or showing qualities that are associated with both femininity and masculinity. It can involve behaviors, presentations, and roles which were/are typically culturally associated with being a man and being a woman. Androgynous people may also have qualities associated with neutrality. Androgynous can be used as a description of one's gender, one's gender presentation, or both.
Androgynous should not be confused with androgyne. Androgyne is a specific gender that is a mix of male and female and/or masculine and feminine. Androgynous is a quality that a gender can have, but is not a gender identity on its own. Genders that are associated with androgyny include: androgyne, femache, eclipsian, lingender, and proxangi among others.
As a gender presentation, androgynous describes a presentation that incorporates some features that are indicative of men and some features that are indicative of women. For example, having facial hair and wearing make-up at the same time. Not all people with androgynous genders will present androgynously, and not all people who present androgynously have an androgynous gender. People of any gender or sexual orientation can present androgynously. The exact traits and qualities associated with androgyny are different based on the culture and time period.
Another definition is showing traits that can be associated with either binary gender. For example, wearing unisex clothes. This form of presentation can also be described as gender neutral. Neutral is often confused with androgynous due to the terms being used interchangeably in society. However, in some cases it is useful to distinguish between the two. Neutral is a term describing something that is not strongly masculine nor strongly feminine, whereas androgynous describes something that is both masculine and feminine at the same time, which can include neutrality but is not defined by it.
Flag
The androgynous flag was designed by Mod arco-pluris from Tumblr blog Beyond MOGAI Pride Flags on January 30, 2019. The flag is based on the feminine and masculine flags by imoga-pride on Tumblr.[1][2] An alternate androgynous flag was designed by Wikia FANDOM user kirbirb on January 7th, 2021.[3] Neither flag has confirmed color meanings, but both use purple, as it is a combination of blue (masculine) and pink (feminine) and is the most common color associated with androgyny.
An alternate androgynous flag was made by emsydacat on August 1, 2021. It is made to resemble an alternate androgyne flag by the same creator. It is a striped gradient of purple that is made up of a mix between the three colors of the androgyne flag (pink, purple, blue), representing how androgynous people present with a mixture of features associated with femininity, masculinity, and sometimes neutrality in varying intensity.